THE JAMES K. MOFFITT FUND. LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. GIFT OF JAMES KENNEDY MOFFITT OF THE CLASS OF '86. Accession No. 1 06599 Class No. VOL. i.] [Modern Science Essayist, [No. i. JAN. 15, 1889. Herbert Spencer. His LIFE, WRITINGS, AND PHILOSOPHY. *~ DANIEL GREENLEAF THOMPSON, AUTHOR OF "A SYSTEM OF PSYCHOLOGY," "THE PROBLEM OF EVIL, "THE RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS OF THE HUMAN MIND," ETC. BOSTON : GEORGE II. ELLIS, PUBLISHER, 141 FRANK LI. v STREET. Fortnightly, $2.60 a year. Single number, 10 cents. Entered at Post-office, Boston, for mailing at second-class postal rates. MOFFITT COLLATERAL READINGS SUGGESTED IN CONNECTION WITH ESSAY I. Biographical Sketch of Herbert Spencer, by Professor E. L. Youmans (in Popular Science Monthly, March, 1876); JEssays on Spencer, in Popular Science Monthly, November, 1874, and North American Review, October, 1879, by Professor Youmans;- fencer's Reconciliation of Religion and Science, by Professor Youmans (in Christian Examiner, May, 1862); Spencer's Education, Study of So- ciology, Essays, and Recent Discussions. HERBERT SPENCER.* As THE world grows older it knows more about its great- est men and finds them out quicker ; but in order to be no- ticed it is necessary for them to be greater than in former times. The idea that men of long ago were of superior mould and larger intellectual stature than those of to-day is a false one, though useful, no doubt, to sustain the doc- trine of a lapse from an originally perfect state. Those sentiments which have given rise to and supported the theory of monarchical sovereignty made demigods of mil- itary chieftains, of kings and emperors, and endowed them, in the minds of people generally, with all the virtues which tlicy did not possess but which seemed to be necessary to a properly equipped great man. The same method has per- vaded the world of study and of letters. Plato and Aris- totle have been esteemed much greater men than any of our degenerate times, and there has been, and still is, a mysti- cal value attached to their least words. Without disparaging these really worthy Greeks, who would be considered good philosophers, as philosophers go in our time, and who, it must be remembered, were far bet- ter than they used to run in earlier days, I do not hesitate to aver that the subject of this sketch, for instance, is much greater than either of them. Nor would I say it of him alone, but also of many others, who are not as prominent. The general level of intellectual power is so far raised in modern times that it is exceedingly difficult for any one mail to become pre-eminent among his fellows. His lim- itations are more accurately measured, his weaknesses are detected, and he has none of the divine halo about his head that used to awe people into adoration and out of criticism. Believe me, the modern way is the best. These are more fortunate times, when we see Carlyle's " Great Man " cer- tainly disappearing from the earth and soon to share the fate of the mastodon and the mammoth. True greatness * COPYIUGHT, by D. G. Thompson, 1888. 106599 4 Herbert Spencer, will be a natural, not a supernatural, greatness. Those be- low will be raised up, and the model man of the future will be he who walks modestly among his fellows, claiming nothing and needing to. claim nothing, because his intellect, his character, his deeds shine in their true light, neither ob- scured nor artificially heightened. And of such there will be many. It is still hard for merit to obtain recognition ; but if a man does good work, and chances to live in one of the most enlightened countries of the world, he will probably be found out before he dies. Mr. Spencer had a long struggle before much attention was paid fohim, but at length his reward came. One great difficulty in his case was the lack of a thorough academical education. By no means the least of the advantages of a collegiate or university course is that the student is admitted into a society of scholars, who will form the intellectual aristocracy of their genera- tion. He who joins them becomes known to the others, is established as a member of the guild, and wears his badge to the end of life. Both recognition and honor come to him more easily, by virtue of his membership, to say nothing of the advantages of the courses of study and discipline in themselves. At the age of thirteen Herbert Spencer went to live with his uncle, the Eev. Thomas Spencer, Eector of Hinton, who was a graduate of Cambridge. The uncle wished Herbert to prepare for the university, but the latter was obstinate and refused. Prof. Youmans remarks that the uncle lived to acknowledge that Herbert probably took the right view of the matter. I do not think he did. Mr. Spencer's thoughts and writings seem to me to show their main deficiency in precisely those things which a university training would have supplied. Many of his friends, how- ever, it is fair to state, believe that a university train- ing was incompatible with the traits on which the develop- ment of his philosophy depended. ^ Herbert a r pn"=- wfl* bom in DeJ&^Lril 27, 1820. His father and grandfather were teachers, and Herbert, at three years of age, was the only surviving child. He did not learn to read until seven. He was delicate in health, and was not pressed. When he did go to school, he was not brilliant. Prof. Youmans says of him that " he was charac- terized as backward in things requiring memory and recita- tion, but as in advance of the rest in intelligence." He Herbert Spen <//.- TrUiuiir, in June, l.ST'J. About $7000 was raised by American friends for this purpose. The amount was accepted by Mr. Spencer, "as a trust to be used for public ends," and was employed chiefly to defray the expenses attendant upon the compilation of the tables of the "Descriptive So- ciology." 8 Herbert Spencer. much as he could without interfering with his work, and has been a welcome and an agreeable guest in many house- holds. His most regular associations of this sort have been at the Athenaeum Club, which is instituted, in the language of its constitution, " for the association of individuals known for their scientific or literary attainments, artists of em- inence in any class of fine arts, and noblemen and gentlemen distinguished as liberal patrons of science, literature or the arts." The Athenaeum gives the privileges of its home to such non-residents as its Committee of Invitation may select, for the period of their sojourn in London. If I may be pardoned personal references, it was my good fortune to be honored with this limited membership at one time, and, happening to be writing home to a gentleman who was an editor, I mentioned various items regarding my stay in Lon- don, among others my frequenting the Athenaeum. To off- set any possible suggestion to his mind that I spoke of this from motives of vanity, I put in my letter, with the proper quotation-marks and exclamation-point, the jocose remark of an English friend in describing the Club, that it was " composed of distinguished people at home and less-distin- guished people from abroad." I think my correspondent must have been of Scotch ancestry: but, whatever may have been his pedigree, my feelings may be imagined when I afterwards saw, in my friend's paper, a paragraph setting forth seriously, and without the quotation-marks and excla- mation-point, that " Mr. D. G. Thompson had been elected a member of the Athenaeum in London, a Club which is composed of distinguished people at home and less-distin- guished people from abroad " ! The Athenaeum includes people of all sorts of opinions. Men are there of as wide differences in religion as are ex- emplified in Cardinal Manning and Frederick Harrison ; or in politics as in Lord Salisbury, Earl Selborne and Jo- seph Chamberlain. It naturally follows, especially when we consider that the membership of the Club is twelve hundred, that social intercourse within its pale lies in groups formed according to affiliations proceeding from sympathies in ideas, or in work. Mr. Spencer's friends are chiefly those in scientific or philosophical pursuits, among whom Huxley and Tyndall are the most intimate. It is his usual habit to visit the Club-house every day about three o'clock. Al- Spencer. 9 though the library and study rooms afford facilities for work he rarely uses them for that purpose, his hours at the Club being devoted to relaxation and recreation. Billiards con- stitute his favorite amusement, and he generally is found, with his coat oft', in the room assigned for that sport, when the visitor sends the hall-boy to seek him. Whether he plays well, or ill, I do not know ; but such men are not apt to make a failure of anything they attempt, and it is cred- itable to be excellent in billiards if one chooses to play the game. Besides, if one is able to win, it is usually a saving of expense ! Mr. Spencer is a ready conversationalist, very accurate and exact in his expressions. As Dr. Hooker once said to Professor Youmans, " He talks like a book." This charac- teristic does not strike one as pedantry, and is by no means unpleasant, though it puts the interlocutor on his guard re- specting carelessness in his own words. He is at home on all topics of current interest, as well as on those specially appertaining to his studies. He is a keen critic, but not censorious, nor does he seem to entertain or cherish animos- ities. Nevertheless he is very combative ; too much so for his own good. He is fond of striking back at his critics, and has more than once turned aside from his work to take notice of strictures upon his views, when there was little utility in so doing. His controversy with Frederick Harri- son is a case in point. However interesting this may be to readers, it after all seems a waste of words. The position of neither thinker was made any clearer, nor was either converted by the other. Nor, I presume, was any one else converted by either, while much of Mr. Spencer's supreme- ly valuable time was consumed in preparing the letters. The latter has that genuinely British trait of character which causes a man to stand up for his rights, and to resist what he deems aggression. Prof. Youmans says he was a dis- obedient boy sometimes, and that he never would stand bul- lying at school. No more will he stand it in the journals and reviews. His sensitiveness to invasions upon his per- sonality subjected him to sore trials upon his visit to America. Prof. Youmans, however, managed him well, and was a happy mediator between the sick man who want- ed to be let alone, and the impatient public anxious to see and hear the philosopher they honored. The interviewer's attempts were disagreeable, persistence in proffered hospi- 10 Jlvrbert tality on tlie part of new acquaintances was annoying ; but what drove him nearly frantic was the desire of people, in some places manifested, to look at him as they would look at a fine animal at the agricultural fair. The culmination of this latter outrage was reached, I regret to say, in my native State, at Burlington, Vermont, the home of Minis- ter Phelps and Senator Edmunds. His arrival having been announced in the daily paper, quite a number of people called to pay their respects, and a little demonstration in his honor was threatened. Mr. Spencer however, tired and ill, had gone to his room, leaving orders that he could see no one and must not be disturbed. The people would not be appeased, and to his great horror a party of them went to his door, knocked, and, when it was opened, told him that they had come to see him and see him they would. His traveling companion remonstrated, but they were many and Mr. Spencer had no gun. They took their look and de- parted, but of conversation they had none. You may force a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. No wonder that, after this, Mr. Spencer came to entertain a fear respecting the permanency of our institutions, and to re- mark, concerning our people, "The American has not, I think, a sufficiently quick sense of his own claims, and, at the same time, as a necessary consequence, not a sufficiently uick sense of the claims of others, for the two traits are organically related. I observe that you tolerate various small interferences and dictations which Englishmen are prone to resist. I am told that the English are remarked on for their tendency to grumble in such cases ; and I have no doubt it is true." " Do you think it worth while," asks the interviewer, " for people to make themselves disagreeable by resenting every trifling aggression ? We Americans think it involves too much loss of time and temper, and doesn't pay." "Exactly," replies Mr. Spencer ; " that is what I mean by character. It is this easy-going readiness to permit small trespasses, because it would be troublesome or profitless, or unpopular to resist, which leads to the habit of acquiesence in wrong and the decay of free institutions." ^ One time, at the Athenaeum club, I was introduced by Mr. Spencer to Mr. Matthew Arnold, in the lunch-room. I 'Herbert Spencer in America." D. Appleton & Co. 1883. Herbert Spencer. 11 should like to have been at the next table when, perchance, these two gentlemen might have sat down together and dis- cussed America over a cut of roast mutton, a boiled potato, and a spoonful of peas for each, with a mug of stout and no napkin. I would forgive the newspaper reporter all his sins, against me at any rate, if only he could have been there and reported that conversation. Much would have been said that was true, dmbtless ; much would have been kindly. Much, also, would have been " curious " ; nor do I imagine it would have been wanting in "distinction." At the very least it would have been "interesting." I have noticed a remarkable characteristic of many Eng- lishmen, the readiness with which, at little and unac- customed things, they fall into that state which is expressed by the word "aghast." It is chiefly with respect to affairs, of personal life, in which they behold a difference of man- ners. Its first symptom is paralysis; then follows reason- ing, from their own stupefaction, subjectively. Because the effect on them is great they magnify the cause. I meet my friend the Englishman one fine day in summer, and say to him, cheerily, " Very warm to-day. A good day for your annual bath." Straightway he is struck " aghast " ; and thus he communes with himself : " Yes, quite so ; but that is a very extraordinary expression; warm yes; bath, yes, I know ; but annual bath ; what can he mean ? He cannot think I bathe but once a year : he has seen the bath-tub which I always carry with my luggage. He had a kindly and genial smile when he said it. I really am not prepared to believe he meant to insult me. But how curious ! I have it ! It must be that there are many Americans who bathe only once a year. ""^ut7~if so7 "how can they keep clean ? It is~very, very extraordinary. The Americans are a remarkable people; but their manner of address seems to me to be rather infelicitous, don't you know. And they have not yet learned how to live ; if they had they would not postpone their bath so long. No, the Americans may have done measurably well in solving the political prob- lem, but it must be allowed on all hands that they have not solved the human problem." Mr. Spencer, however, is very different from the English- man of the previous paragraph. He is far too thorough an observer to let his judgment of real conditions be deter- mined by minor and adventitious circumstances. He is by 12 Herbert Spencer. no means an obtuse or narrow man. His opinions respect- ing America were much more correct and substantial than those of Mr. Matthew Arnold. The latter never could get below the surface. His mind was critical, but not syn- thetic or constructive. With him, manners made the man; and there were no manners save his own. He was lacking in " lucidity." But Mr. Spencer's vision was wide, and his insight keen. He saw things in their true proportions, and his criticisms upon our country were received with respect and thankfulness. It was in February, 1886, that I last saw Mr. Spencer. He had perceptibly aged, and appeared feeble. I did not tarry long, for I fancied conversation wearied him. As he took my hand at parting, he said, mournfully, " Tell You- mans you have seen me, that I have not much strength left, and I shall never see him again." What he had in mind was his own decease ; but Prof. Youmans passed on to the majority before him. Since that day, we have reports of a long illness, from which he has partially recovered. There is small likelihood that the " System of Synthetic Phil- osophy " will ever be completed, but Mr. Spencer's energy is great and he will work as long as work is possible. Turning, now, from the author to his productions, the first thing to be said and it should be distinctly under- stood as incontrovertible is that Herbert Spencer is the father of the jnodernphilosophy of _eyolutionT The impres- sion still exists "tKart)ar win is entitled to that honor. This is a mistake, which the application of the term "Darwin- ism" to that philosophy has helped to perpetuate. The " Origin of Species " was first published in November, 1859. Mr. Spencer's Psychology, it will be remembered, appeared in 1857. This last was preceded by several essays outlin- ing the doctrine of evolution, the earliest of which dates from 1852. To one of these, " The Development Hypoth- esis," Mr. Darwin refers in the Introduction to the " Origin of Species." But the "Principles of Psychology," which is an integral part of Mr. Spencer's philosophy, and which exhibits the doctrine of evolution as it stands to-day, had been published two years before Darwin's first great work appeared. This, however, is by no means all. In its subject-matter . Evolution is not " Darwinism," but a natural law of much broader scope. The former shows that, universally through- Herbert Swncer. 13 out nature, change is governed by a principle according to which there is a course of integration of forces from indef- initeness, simplicity, and homogeneity in their relations, to definiteness, complexity, and heterogeneity. When evolu- tion, proceeding in this way, ceases, a reverse movement of dissolution begins. This law applies to inorganic and or- ganic nature alike. Darwin's Natural Selection is an expres- sion of the manner in which evolution accomplishes the de- velopment of vegetal and animal life, showing how species ; are formed, distributed, modified, perpetuated and destroyed. 3( It will thus be seen that, while Mr. Spencer thought out and presented the whole philosophy of evolution, Darwin's work was special and limited. That it was a great work I am certainly not disposed to deny, but I think we ought to understand exactly what it was. It cannot better be ex- pressed than in an estimate by Geo. J. Eomanes, published in Nature. "The few general facts out of which the theory of evolution by natural selection is formed, namely, struggle for existence, survival of the fittest, and heredity, were all previously well-known facts. . . . But the greatness of Mr. Darwin, as the reformer of biology, is not to be estimated by the fact that he conceived the idea of natural selection ; his claim to everlasting memory rests upon the many years of devoted labor whereby he tested this idea in all conceiv- able ways amassing facts from every department of sci- ence, balancing evidence with the soundest judgment, shirk- ing no difficulty, and at last astonishing the world as with a revelation by publishing the completed proof of evolution. ... In the chapter of accidents, therefore, it is a singularly fortunate co-incidence that Mr. Darwin was the man to whom the idea of natural selection occurred ; for although, in a generation or two, the truth of evolution might have become more and more forced upon the belief of science, and with it the acceptance of natural selection as an operating cause, in our own generation this could only have been accom- plished in the way that it was accomplished ; we required one such exceptional mind as that of Darwin, to focus the facts and show the method." Mr. Spencer's practical philosophy has been pretty fully set forth in his "Data of Ethics," and in his various essays. In ethics he holds that conduct should be estimated and governed by the rule of the highest utility, but believes that an ideal social state, involving an ideal development of 14 Herbert Spencer. character, should always be kept before the mind as a stand- jir4> to furnish that "counsel of perfection 75 which his op- ponent, Green, urges as necessary though from an entirely different point of view. This ideal morality is likely to be realized in the course of evolution, but until there is reached such a state of society as to make it practicable we must also recognize a code of relative ethics by which to conform our actions to our circumstances, and aid, so far as those circumstances will allow, the progress of mankind to the most perfect conditions. This code will involve a varying \ compromise between egoism and altruism. Mr. Spencer thinks the antagonism between these two will eventually disappear, because the working of social forces must inev- /itably produce the result that men will increasingly find their happiness in the welfare of others. Their egoistic '^gratifications will become sympathetic. Their highest self- ish delight will merely be the lust of making other people delighted. In a word, indiyMuaj^happiness will only be complete iiLj&e_Jigj3ial happiness^ MrTTSpencer is surely right in this view. We never can wholly eliminate self-re- garding ends. Our own action must ultimately be directed to securing our own pleasure and preventing pain to our- selves. But it is quite possible for us to so form our char- acters that our highest pleasure is the pleasure and welfare of others ; and in the measure that this is completely achieved is the conciliation between egoism and altruism perfected. ^"Our author's political philosophy is as radically individ- ualistic as that of William von Humboldt. He believes in the minimum of govejnmp.nt ; jirifl is uncoiiTpromisingly op- posed to all the socialistic tendencleT^Ohe^fcime. With the militant regimes of continental Europe he has no sym- pathy, and in the industjd^i-Cixtabijiations that seek to build up strong organizations for the purposes of domination and dictation he beholds an equally pernicious despotism. Mr. Spencer would no doubt be a Mugwump in politics any- where. He would not supporfc^oliticjJjna.chmes, nor would he favorLoncentration or centralization of power. He car- ries to an extreme the laissez-faire doctrine. With him society is always "a growth, not a manufacture," and he deems that attempts at regulation beyond the necessities of security are obstructive of social progress, because they in- terfere with the natural growth which is the thing needed, \ Herbert Spencer. 15 and which can only proceed from the exercise of individual spontaneity and freedom. ^ This principle has been misapplied in one important par- ticular, as it seems to me. Mr. Spencer's views of the lim-\ itation of the functions of government lead him to the notion 1 that the State should have nothing to do with education, I which, he thinks, should be_accomplished entirelyj)y private / age?ncy_._ Schools mainj;ainj5dj^ by governmental adrnlmstraHon, shoiild-be-doKe^away with. The f imdameirEaT~mistake JiereTis an error of omission. Those who hold these ideas fail to perceive that education is necessary as a measure of security. Though they may see that the root of all evil lies in the character of men, they do not appreciate that mere negative prohibition is not enough to secure that free and full development of in- dividuals upon which they lay so much stress. There must be placed over human beings, in early life, such a discipline of the will and of the intellect as to develop the social in opposition to the selfish disposition. This is by far the hiost certain means of preserving the peace. And if the ideal of the perfect State be a community where there is little or no government, such an ideal can only be realized by the creation of a predominantly altruistic character in individuals. How, then, are we justified in saying, when we allow that government exists for the purpose of secur- ing people in their freedom, that we ought to neglect those means which are evidently the most efficient for the desired end? For security's sake^ therefore._jthe State ought to have a care for ecTucation, and maintain a system of public instruction and discipline. There Ts" little to find fault with in Mr. Spencer's notions of the general course which education ought to take. He \ asks the question, What knowledge is of most worth ? and I answers it according to a broad view of utilities. Those y- things which are directly necessary to self-preservation come' first : then those indirectly ministering to this end, and to the full development of human nature. Physical, intellect- ual and moral education all have their place in proper pro- portions. The treatise on "Education" probably has been more widely read than any other of Mr. Spencer's writings, and it is likely to be regarded as a classic on that subject for a long time to come. It subordinates the sesthetic to ^ 16 Herbert Spencer. the scientific, but it concedes the value of the former as a supplement to scientific knowledge and training. Mr. Spencer's religious views are readily discernible to any one who has read the " First Principles " of his philos- ophy. Supernatural revelations he rejects ; but to say that his scheme has no place for religion would be a gross mis- statement. He makes all nature dependent upon and the outcome of a Power which is not and cannot be known, but whose existence must ever be postulated. Toward this Power, faith may turn, but what it is must forever transcend our knowledge ; and respecting its nature or attributes, those relating to personality included, no affirmations or denials can be made. This is strictly Agnostic doctrine, and it pre- Isents to us the famous " Unknowable," respecting which so much has been said. If the term be used absolutely, " Unknowable " is not a proper characterization. To be able to affirm that it exists, implies some knowledge of it ; and it is a contradiction to declare that anything which can be made an object of cog- nition is unknowable. In a relative sense, however, the term may be used to mean something existing, but beyond the reach of further objectincation, or of cognition by human in- telligence as we have experience of it. This, no doubt, is what Mr. Spencer intends. The true statement is that we know the existence of an Ultimate Reality which is known as such but not otherwise known. Here is our philosopher's creed, in a passage from " First Principles": "Thus the consciousness of an Inscrutable Power, manifested to us through all phenomena, has been growing ever clearer ; and must eventually be freed from its imperfections. The certainty that on the one hand such a Power exists, while on the other hand its nature trans- cends intuition and is beyond imagination, is the certainty towards which intelligence has from the first been progress- / ing. To this conclusion science inevitably arrives as it reaches its confines ; while to this conclusion religion is ir- resistably driven by criticism. And satisfying, as it does, the demands of the most rigorous logic at the same time that it gives the religious sentiment the widest possible sphere of action, it is the conclusion we are bound to accept without reserve or qualification." Let us also note the following passages showing the true relationship of religion and science : Herlrrt Sencer 17 " In religion let us recognize the high merit that from the beginning it has dimly discerned the ultimate verity, and has never ceased to insist upon it. ... From the first the recognition of this supreme verity, in however imperfect a manner, has been its vital element ; and its various defects,. once extreme but gradually diminishing, have been so many failures to recognize in full that which is recognized in part. The truly religious element of religion has always been good; that which has proved untenable in doctrine and vicious in practice has been its irreligious element : and from this it has been ever undergoing purification. "And now observe that, all along, the agent which has effected the purification has been science. We habitually overlook the fact that this has been one of its functions. Religion ignores its immense debt to science : and science is scarcely at all conscious how much religion owes it. Yet it is demonstrable that every step by which religion has pro- gressed from its first low conception to the comparatively high one it has now reached, science has helped it, or rather forced it, to take : and that even now science is-urging fur- ther steps in the sajne jjjrection ..... Otherwise contem- plating the f aiibs^jvvamay say thatrejigion and science Iiave been undergoing a slow differentiation ; andTthaTtheir cease- less conflicts have beeriTdue to tne imperfect separation of their spheres and functions. Religion has, from the first, struggled to unite more or less science with its nescience ; science has, from the first, kept hold of more or less nes- cience as though it were a part of science. Each has been obliged gradually to relinquish that territory which it wrong- fully claimed, while it has gained from the other that to which it had a right ; and the antagonism between them has been an inevitable accompaniment of this process ..... So long as the process of differentiation is incomplete more or less of antagonism must continue. Gradually, as the limits of possible cognition are established, the causes of conflict will diminish. And a permanent peace will be reached when science becomes fully convinced that its explanations are proximate and relative ; while religion becomes fully convinced that the mystery it contemplates is ultimate and absolute." (Part L, Chap. V.) These, in barest outline, are some of the things that Her- bert Spencer has begun to teach the human race. The fields of knowledge are wide, and many have been the la- 18 Herbert Spencer. borers therein. We appreciate and admire the work of the scientist who increases the stock of human learning in any of its departments. Agassiz, Darwin, Huxley, Tyndall, Wal- lace, and all the host of them, awaken our gratitude and command our reverence. But though we have traveled much in these realms of gold, "And many goodly states and kingdoms seen," profounder emotions are stirred when we contemplate Mr. Spencer and his work. We think no longer of the ingen- ious mechanisms and marvelous adaptations of nature ; the wonderful order, the many beauties, the curious things re- vealed and displayed for our observation and study. Bath- er, it seems as if barriers were suddenly thrown down, and a vision opened of boundless knowledge and exhaustless being. Then, our past experience becomes merely the arch where-thro' " Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades Forever and forever when we move." Then feel we, rather, "Like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken." Or, again, like Cortes, "When with eagle eyes He stood at the Pacific, and all his men Looked at each other with a wild surmise, Silent upon" that "peak in Darien."* * Besides what conies from the personal knowledge of the writer, the author- ity for statements of facts in the foregoing essay may be found in two articles on Herbert Spencer and his works in the "Popular Science Monthly," one in the issue of November, 1874, the other in the issue of March, 187G, both by the late Prof. Edward L. Youmans, and also in the paper entitled "Herbert Spen- cer and the Doctrine of Evolution," in Gazelles' "Evolution Philosophy," pub- lished by D. Appleton & Co. in 1875. The writer wishes furthermore to ac- knowledge his indebtedness to Miss Eliza A. Youmans for several valuable suggestions. Herbert Spencer. 19 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCUSSION. MR. JAMES A. SKILTOX : Before entering upon the discussion of the admirable essay of Mr. Thompson, I may be permitted, having had little or nothing to do with its preparation, to congratulate you on this splendid ji ooramme of Essays and Readings upon the subject of Evolution. It may seem too much to say at this time, but I believe it will give a great impulse to the study of Evolution in the Christian church and elsewhere in America, and may produce effects now expected by few. Personally holding this opinion with tenacity and en- tire conviction, I might nevertheless not be willing to express it here and now if I stood alone in entertaining it. But I am made bold to utter it by the fact that I am in possession of the opinion of the Master himself on the subject, as expressed in the letter which I will now read : "The Nook, Horsham Road, Dorking, "Dear Sir: 24th July, 1888. "I am obliged by your letter of July llth, with its enclosures. I am glad to say, and you will perhaps be glad to hear, that I am considerably better than when I gave to Dr. W. J. Youmans the impression you quote. Leaving London in a very low state about a month ago, I have since improved greatly, and am now in hopes of getting back to something like the low level of health which I before had, though I scarcely expect to reach that amount of work- ing power which has been usual with me. " The information contained in your letter was, I need hardly say, gratifying to me both on personal and on public grounds. The spread of the doctrine of Evolution, first of all in its limited acceptation and now in its wider acceptation, is alike surprising and encouraging; and doubtless the movement now to be initiated by the lectures and essays set forth in your programme will greatly accelerate its progress especially if full reports of your proceedings can be circulated in a cheap printed form. The mode of presentation described seems to me admirably adapted for pop- ularizing evolution views, and it will, I think, be a great pity if the effect of such a presentation should be limited to a few listeners in Brooklyn. "Wishing you and your coadjutors every success in your efforts, " I am, truly, yours, "Mr. J. A. SKILTON." "HERBERT SPENCER." 20 Herbert Spencer. Happening to have in my possession early in the summer an ad- vance copy of your programme, it occurred to me that it might be to Mr. Spencer a comfort and a consolation, if not an aid to a renewal of strength, to learn what you were proposing to do; and I therefore sent him a copy of the programme, together with a let- ter of cordial sympathy; to which the letter just read is his reply. I subsequently learned, from Mr. W. R. Hughes of Birmingham, the President of the Sociological Section of one of them, that Mr. Spencer had caused the programme and my letter to be forwarded to societies in England and France engaged in the study and ad- vancement of Evolution Philosophy, as matter of interest to European Evolutionists. In listening with pleasure to the essay of the evening, I have found but one statement open to criticism. It seems to me we may believe the world has been blessed in that Mr. Spencer was not biased by a thorough academical education, but was left to the natural development of his intellectual powers untrammeled by direct and overmastering academic influences. His refusal to ac- cept the alleged privileges and opportunities of such an education while yet a mere boy, marks, to my mind, the early self-recogni- tion of those splendid natural powers by which the world has been already greatly benefited, and will continue to be benefited throughout the ages. I make only a passing allusion to this sub- ject, which it would be out of place to discuss here at length ; but I may be permitted to say that the history of the development of the mind and philosophy of Herbert Spencer is most instructive and interesting; that the great advances in the thought and work of the world are almost never made by those of the "guild," and that we should probably have marred rather than mended if we could have had it otherwise. The time allotted me permits mention of only two or three inci- dents in that history. Examination of the original English edi- tion of "Social Statics," published in 1850, discloses to us the action of a mind as yet dominated by its intellectual environ- ment; the facts presented, the line of thought pursued, and the method of treatment adopted, being such as many of his con- temporaries might naturally have employed in dealing with the subject. We find in that work little of the promise of the splendid fruitage we have already garnered from his subsequent works, except that derivable from the exhibition of transparent intellect- ual honesty and love of truth. Turning thence to the American edition of "Social Statics," published by the Appletons in 1865, we find that Spencer consented with reluctance to its publication 21 unchanged, and with prefatory qualification of the most impor- tant character, in the following words: "But in restating them he would bring into greater prominence the transitional nature of all political institutions, and the consequent relative goodness of some arrangements which have no claims to absolute goodness." Between 1850 and 1865, then, Mr. Spencer had discovered the vast and most important difference between absolute and relative morals and principles, a difference which lies at the very founda- tion of his entire system of philosophy. When and how was he led to discover that difference ? Looking over the list of his writ- ings, we note his article on "Population," printed in the ][>*/- minster Review of July, 1852. That article commences with a reference to the Malthusian Theory of Population, and quotes ap- provingly the language of a sagacious and benevolent man, who said of it: "A time will come when this mystery will be unveiled, ind when a beneficent law will be discovered, regulating this mat- ter, in accordance with all the rest that we see of God's moral government of the world " ; and forthwith Mr. Spencer proceeds to promulgate such a law. In that article we find recognition of that difference, and accompanying the same an unmistakable prophecy of the beneficent ethical philosophy disclosed in the "Data of Kthirs," that lights the way through all the wilderness of his work and thought that lies between them. It is a matter of associated interest to note that, according to the biography of Darwin, written by his son, it was the reading, in 1839, of the "Theory of Population," by Mai thus, that gave him also an initial impulse for his splendid work in the field of the Struggle for Existence and Natural Selection. It is also of interest to note that, according to the history of the development of the thought of earlier ages, substantially the same great question and collection of questions occupied the attention of the great minds concerned in laying the foundations of Judaism and Christianity, and whose action has so powerfully influenced the history of the world. In these facts we may at least find warrant for the study and in- vestigation of the Evolution Philosophy in and through an Ethical Association attached to a Christian church and holding its sessions in its place of worship. i;i:v. JOHX W. CIIADWICK : Mr. Chadwick expressed his pleasure in listening to the delight- ful essay by Mr. Thompson. He presumed that in claiming for Mr. Spencer the paternity of the Evolution philosophy, the essay- ist did not intend to ignore the prior claim of Darwin to the con 22 Herbert Spencer. ception of Evolution or Development in its biological aspects. Darwin commenced the investigations which resulted, finally, in the preparation of the "Origin of Species," twenty years prior to its publication, before Mr. Spencer had begun his career as an author. Mr. Spencer's acquaintance and friendship with "George Eliot" he also thought worthy of note. As to Spencer's conception of the Absolute as Unknowable, Mr. Chad wick had always felt that, even according to Mr. Spencer's own definitions, though unknown it was at the same time well- known. ; though hidden from us in its totality it was revealed in the entire phenomenal universe, where the method of its operation was open to our study. MR. THOMAS GARDNER : The really essential features of Mr. Spencer's system have been lucidly presented by the essayist, and his criticism has also been judicious. Although I confess myself a devout follower of Mr. Spencer, I cannot bring my mind into subjection_.to his-vigws as. to the powers and pm^n^>-^ g^-^rnjnerit ?"^ fv.i n v thaf~fh a "laissez-faire" system which he ^o-^nnfidpntly-advocates is not always the best for a community or nation. I think there is not a little wisdom in The words of Edmund Burke, when he said, -'Be- fore I congratulate a people on having obtained their liberty which will allow them to do as they please, I think it would be well to wait and see what it will please them to do." I must confess that my bent of mind inclines me to sympathize more, in the matter of government, with the fervid aspirations of John Ruskin than with the colder reflections of Herbert Spencer. Although no one has written on the subject of ethics in a sim- pler and clearer manner than Mr. Spencer, it has been his fate to be, whether wittingly or unwittingly, grossly and widely misun- derstood ; and it was refreshing to listen, to-night, to an exposition of his views on this crowning work of his life, wherein the really noble and tender sentiment underlying Mr. Spencer's speculation has been sympathetically presented. I am certainly of the opin- ion that the basis of his philosophy is a profoundly religious one, and look upon the attitude of the Agnostic, when confronted with the shadow of an unknowable and infinite deity, as pre-eminently reverential and worshipful. It is, I think, beyond question that all deep religious emotion finds its birthplace in a mystic region ; and surely, in the noble range of the Evolution philosophy, there is a mystic region large enough to satisfy the aspirations of the most devout dreamer : in fact it is beyond the bounds of all time : and space. Evolution. Popular Lectures and Discussions before the Brooklyn Ethical Association. One vol., fine cloth, 408 pages. Illustrated. Complete Index. $2.00, postpaid. OUTLINE OF CONTENTS. 1. HERBERT SPENCER: His life and personal characteristics; his views on education; his religious opinions. By DANIEL GREENLEAF THOMPSON. 2. CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN: His ancestry, life and personal characteristics. By REV. JOHN \V. CHADWICK. 3. SOLAR AND PLANETARY EVOLUTION: How suns and worlds come into being. Did the material universe ever have a beginning? By GARRETT P. SERVISS. 4. EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH : The story of geology ; how the world grew. By DR. LEWIS G. JANES. 5. EVOLUTION OF VEGETAL LIFE : How does life begin ; the problem of spontaneous gen- eration. By WILLIAM POTTS. 6. EVOLUTION OF ANIMAL LIFE : The evi- dences from geology, geographical distribu- tion and comparative zoology. By ROSSITER W. RAYMOND, Ph.D. 7. THE DESCENT OF MAN : Relation of man to the brute creation; his ancestral line; dura- tion of human life on the planet. By E. D. COPE, Ph.D. 8. EVOLUTION OF MIND: The mind and the nervous system; the nature of mind. By ROBERT G. ECCLES, M.D. 9. EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY. Primitive man; growth of the family, city and State ; devel- opment of the domestic relations ; is society an organism? By JAMES A. SKILTON, Esq. 10. EVOLUTION OF THEOLOGY. Origin of re- ligious beliefs ; ancestor worship ; nature wor- ship ; the Absolute. By Z. SYDNEY SAMPSON. 11. EVOLUTION OF MORALS. How altruism grows out of egoism ; the proper balance. By in;. LEWIS G. JANES. 12. PROOFS OF EVOLUTION: from geology, morphology, embryology, metamorphosis, rudimentary organs, geographical distribu- tion, discovered links, artificial breeding, re- version, mimicry. By NELSON C. PARSHALL. 13. EVOLUTION AS RELATED TO RELIGIOUS THOUGHT: the Unknowable; design; mira- cle. By REV. JOHN W. CHADWICK. 14. THE PHILOSOPHY OF EVOLUTION. Rela- tion of the doctrine to prevailing philosophi- cal systems. By STARR HOYT NICHOLS. 15. THE EFFECTS OF EVOLUTION ON THE COMING CIVILIZATION. Plans for social regeneration as tested by evolution. By REV. MINOT J. SAVAGE. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. REC'D LD OICl3' 63 -12lt JAN 9 1833 FEB091398 1 J SSJsiM? u^SS^Sg,. ff 25 , 94fi LD 21-50m-l,'33 17 ' E ^S?d h&WoS' Byi'RO,. JOK. F.SKK. | VC 31314 UC BERKELEY LIBRARIES 1 06599